The Most Effective Way To Promote Your Site Is Free (Sort Of)

Written by B.L. Ochman

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Where To Publish There are two basic ways to get your articles published: General distribution and individual submissions. General distribution can be achieved through article announcement lists and through sites that provide free content to ezine publishers.

Being recognized as an expert takes time. Make a commitment to writing one or two new articles every month. And don't worry about giving away your free advice. Walt Disney explained this very well. After a meeting, a young employee once asked Disney "Aren't you worried about giving away all that free information Mr. Disney?" And Disney replied "Nah! Those were last year's ideas." If you're good at what you do, you'll always have plenty more ideas.

Internet strategist and journalist B.L. Ochman is president of www.whatsnextonline.com which evaluates, develops and executes Internet and traditional marketing and business strategies. Subscribe to her bi-weekly marketing tactics newsletter, What's Next Online at http://whatsnextonline.com/subscribe.html BLOchman@whatsnextonline.com 718.398.8600.

8 Essential Questions For Aspiring Ezine Editors

Written by Angela Wu

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Professional list managers will require an investment. They will allow you to send out ad-free messages (and keep your mailbox free of more advertising!) and typically offer a number of features not available in 'free' version.

__5. Will You Accept Advertising?

New editors often choose to offer free ads to new subscribers. This is supposed to help them build their lists more quickly. On other hand, you could end up with subscribers who join just to get a free ad, and who never bother to read your newsletter.

Most newsletters start to charge for advertising around 1000 subscribers mark. If you choose to do so, take a look at similar ezines within your niche market to see what types of rates they charge.

__6. Should You Publish an Email or Web-Based Newsletter?

There are advantages and disadvantages to both. You could choose to do both: send an email newsletter and archive each issue on web. Another alternative is to publish on web, but send out an email notification with a brief blurb about each article. Include a tracking URL for each article and you'll be able to see which topics interest your visitors most!

__7. How and Where Will You Promote?

There are many free ways to promote your ezine. The question is, Do you have time to do it? Free methods include:

Ezine promotion requires ongoing effort. If you don't have time, desire, 'know-how' or traffic to build your subscription base on your own, you may have to consider using one or more of 'pay-per-subscriber' services available online.

__8. How Much Time Do You Have to Devote to Your Newsletter?

This is bottom line. How much time can you spare to produce a quality newsleter? Write a couple of sample issues to get a feel for how much time it takes. You may need to make adjustments; for example, you might decide to cut down on number of articles you offer in each issue, but publish more frequently.

Angela is the editor of Online Business Basics, a newsletter for eBusiness beginners. OBB features ongoing tutorials on how to build a profitable Internet business on a shoestring budget. You don't need a million-dollar budget to be successful! Find out how you too can join the thousands quietly earning a living online: http://www.onlinebusinessbasics.com/article.html